The transformations in the poetry of Ovid, a Roman writer, is an inspiration.
Characters live as humans and then undergo a change, usually permanent, caused by a God, the only being with the agency to do this.
The reasons for Gods affecting changes can be utterly frivolous, such as jealousy or feeling umbrage at not being able to have their own way.
This series is in a cartoon idiom. I was particularly intrigued by Cupid, who inflicted chaos, with his gold and lead darts, the first bringing lust, the second, a complete resistance to lust.
Apollo and Daphne were the unlucky recipients of these two devices. Daphne calling upon her father, the river god, to turn her into a Laurel tree, to escape Apollo, is tragic. Apollo, being temporarily overcome by Cupid’s gold dart, shows that even Gods can be transformed by other Gods, but also sets a limit. The transformation of a God is never permanent. It may be a disguise or in the case of Apollo, a temporary affliction.